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Unrecorded 1841 Manifesto from the Fortaleza de Perote in Veracruz: Santa Anna Seizes His Moment

Texas in Turmoil with Adventurers Like David Burnet Running Amok, "Indios Bárbaros" Clashing at the Northern Frontier, Tabasco and Yucatán in Revolt

This rare and previously unstudied Puebla-printed broadside printing a lengthy pronouncement by Santa Anna issued from the Fortaleza de Perote at Jalapa on September 8, 1841. Given the fractious political situation in the country, it makes sense that the broadside was printed by Juan N. del Valle, in provincial Puebla and not in Mexico City.  This broadside stands as an important early manifestation of Antonio López de Santa Anna’s formal opposition to President Anastasio Bustamante and a precursor to the more widely known Plan de Perote issued the following day, on September 9, 1841. Framed as an open letter addressed to the interim governor of Veracruz, the present document is a critical preliminary primary source for studying the evolution of Santa Anna’s political rhetoric during this pivotal moment in the so-called Triangular Revolt and notably reflects the continued salience of Texas as a destabilizing and unresolved issue in Mexican national politics.

In the fall of 1841, amid escalating political instability in Mexico under President Anastasio Bustamante, Antonio López de Santa Anna capitalized on the unrest to return to power. Bustamante’s centralist regime was weakened by regional revolts and factionalism, prompting Santa Anna to launch a pronunciamiento from Perote in early September, asserting control once more as the supposed restorer of order. Meanwhile, in Texas, acting President David G. Burnet, stepping in for Mirabeau B. Lamar in December 1840, had urged the Texas Congress to declare war on Mexico and push the southern border to the Sierra Madre mountains, citing alleged preparations for invasion by Mexican forces. However, the war proposal failed due to opposition from allies of Sam Houston, who favored diplomatic caution over expansionist provocation. Santa Anna’s rise that fall must be seen in this context of fragmentation in Mexican governance and heightened tension with the breakaway Republic of Texas, and other outposts of rebellion in Yucatán and Tabasco.

As described by historian Will Fowler: “August 1841 saw the advent of what has been described as the Triangular Revolt.” The first spark came with General Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga’s pronunciamiento at Guadalajara on August 8, calling for the creation of a new congress whose sole purpose would be to reform the 1836 charter. To President Anastasio Bustamante’s dismay, his close military ally General Gabriel Valencia, who had played a leading role in quelling José Urrea and Valentín Gómez Farías’ revolt the previous summer, defected and seized the Ciudadela barracks in Mexico City on August 31, issuing his own pronunciamiento on September 4. Valencia professed to follow the people’s will, claiming it had already been declared by the garrison of Guadalajara. In solidarity with both, Santa Anna issued the present address from Jalapa on September 8 and proceeded to publish the Plan of Perote from the fortress of San Carlos the following day, formally commencing his march toward the capital.

In this September 8, 1841 broadside, Santa Anna references the declarations of the garrisons of Guanajuato and parts of Mexico City, which had supported the Guadalajara plan, and gives his endorsement to the actions of General Valencia. He argues that his own past restraint had been motivated by a desire to avoid civil war, but that recent events - particularly Bustamante’s assumption of emergency powers granted by the Supreme Conservative Power in violation of Article 18 of the 1836 constitution - had compelled him to act. The document reaffirms his belief that “the capital of the Republic is under occupation,” with public authority subordinated to the armed force of a dictator. He explicitly denounces the central government’s failure to uphold constitutional order and calls upon all Mexicans to abandon factionalism and unite in a “conciliatory embrace.”

Texas Out of Control

Santa Anna decries the dire conditions of the country and the corruption of the military hierarchy under Bustamante. He cites the dangerous state of the Republic: the disorganization of the treasury, widespread misery, and threats from both internal and external enemies. He places special emphasis on the unrelenting chaos in Texas, where “adventurers” continued to run unchecked, and on the simultaneous uprisings in Tabasco and Yucatán. These regions, he states, are engulfed in rebellion, with leaders such as Gordiano Guzmán in the Sierra de Aguililla and Semanat in the department of Tabasco, and with foreign figures such as David G. Burnet in Texas and the Indians of the northern frontier, who had taken up arms. These references are significant: Santa Anna points to the nation’s fracturing edges not simply as military challenges, but as proof of the failure of Bustamante’s centralized regime and the unworkability of the 1836 constitutional framework.

Santa Anna would issue (on September 9) a more systematically articulate expression of his objectives in the Plan de Perote - which called for the removal of Bustamante, endorsement of Valencia’s pronunciamiento, and national unity under new constitutional principles - this rare earlier expression provides insight into the rhetorical and ideological groundwork of his campaign. It also demonstrates that his denunciation of the Bustamante regime, though opportunistic, was grounded in legal argumentation, including the explicit claim that Bustamante’s actions had contravened the very constitution he purported to uphold. His repeated emphasis on restoring the “liberty of the fatherland” and rejecting the usurpation of power makes this broadside a foundational text in the legitimization of his return.

The pronunciamiento is signed in type by Santa Anna and by his secretary Manuel M. Escobar. It concludes with an exhortation for unity and patriotism, and an appeal to both civil and military authorities to disregard the illegitimate orders of the Bustamante regime:

In such critical circumstances... I shall proceed with firm and calm step, aspiring to nothing more than the happiness of the nation. I will cooperate so that it may be constituted in a peaceful, solid, and stable manner, and that its representation may be organized in such a way as to express no other voice than that of the general will. Thus, I adhere to, subscribe to, and pledge to uphold the plan of Generals Paredes and Valencia.

Ultimately, Bustamante was forced to confront Santa Anna directly. As Professor Fowler recounts, the two met at Punta del Río on October 5, 1841, outside Mexico City. There, Bustamante formally agreed to the Bases de Tacubaya and to relinquish the presidency. On October 7, Santa Anna entered Mexico City and was inaugurated on October 10, 1841, beginning what would become his longest and most politically durable presidency (1841-1843, 1843-1844).

As a separately printed broaside edition of this first declaration, differing in tone and detail from the Plan of Perote issued just one day later, the present broadside offers exceptional opportunities for research into the development of Santa Anna’s political strategy and rhetoric during this transformative moment. Its explicit references to figures such as Paredes, Valencia, Gordiano Guzmán, Semanat, Burnet, and others make it especially valuable for tracing the national and regional dimensions of the 1841 revolt.  

Rarity

The broadside is unrecorded in OCLC. Not in Streeter Texas.

This is apparently the only surviving example.